


Parts of a Whole

by noveltea



Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Alternate Reality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-12
Updated: 2010-03-12
Packaged: 2017-10-07 22:03:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/69688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noveltea/pseuds/noveltea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scott reflects on his life and role at Xavier's school. (Based loosely on movie-canon - first film only - with a bit of comic canon.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Parts of a Whole

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: All characters, items and locations belong to their original creators.
> 
> Written for summers_fling (LJ) in 2007.

Looking back over the significant events of his life was something Scott had never thought he would live to do. That particular thought had not stemmed from pessimism, but rather a practical view on how dangerous a life he had chosen to embrace.

Leading the X-Men had never been easy. In the first decade of the existence of their team, Scott had faced horrors that he had never thought to experience up-close. Had fought in battles that we not his own - but for a cause that as important to him as anything he had ever known. The X-Men had been a symbol that being different did not mean being better or worse than anyone else. They had stood for, and defended, everyone, regardless of their genetics. It had not always been easy; at first most of the people they tried to help had been ungrateful, unwilling to relent on their views of mutants. Slowly - very slowly - over time, popular opinions had started to change for the better. They were still fighting the good fight, but now people were listening.

It would have been much simpler to have walked down an easier road, but Scott had never taken the easy option; life was infinitely duller and perhaps less rewarding.

He had no regrets.

Now, sitting in the same office his mentor had sat in for so many decades, with the same mission, Scott had found his calling. It had snuck up on him. For years he had taught as a teacher in Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Students, and he had always felt comfortable - had always _liked_ \- teaching, even when it did not go to plan.

Which, given the nature of the school, happened more often than most teachers would feel comfortable with.

He loved it.

He could remember Rogue's first day, all those years ago and the mission that led up to her arrival; Ororo and Scott rescuing Rogue and Logan. (And didn't _that_ open up a whole other story that constantly left 'to be continued...' implanted firmly in Scott's mind.) He remembered Bobby's arrival before that, and Kitty's before that. He remembered how Bobby had taken care of his friends, had showed the potential to become a great leader, and how he continually turned the fountain in the yard into a skating rink for the younger students whenever they asked despite the chagrin of Charles' groundskeeper. He could remember when, in her final year, Kitty had hacked into the school's network on his birthday so that every computer played 'Happy Birthday' at full volume, complete with dancing polar bears and flashing balloons, just to make him smile. When Scott had questioned her choice of animations at a later date, she had merely shrugged, smiling mischievously.

Rogue taught at the school now - English Literature and Psychology; Bobby was a sought-after accountant who occasionally sought refuge at the school; Kitty was a renowned physicist, working all over the country, who returned whenever she could to help teach the senior class.

Just like Scott, they could not sever their ties to the place that had long been considered home.

Others over the years had gone on to great things. All of them knew that the school was a place where they could return and be amongst people like themselves; a place that did not judge. It grew with every passing year, but that had only enhanced its appeal.

The school had become his home, filled with family. And family was everything.

Even now, more than forty years after his adventure had begun, that feeling lived on. Students had come and gone, along with teachers. But no one ever forgot to return. No one forgot the sacrifices, or the triumphs, that had taken place inside the halls of the Westchester mansion.

The school had more memories than he did, and told more tales with each passing day. That was what drew him in, kept him there.

Every second was hope for the future.

He had every reason to hold out that hope, to fight now - harder than he had as leader of the X-Men. The future of his family depended on it. His wife. His child.

He had loved Jean Grey from the moment he had laid on eyes on her, in the very same office. She was younger then, less secure about herself, but no less compelling. She had been beautiful then, but to Scott's mind that did not come close to how beautiful she was now. Jean the doctor, had metamorphasised into Jean the mother, balancing both with incredibly grace.

After years of courtship, through Jean's residency, through the trials of the X-Men, and a prolonged engagement, eventually the timing was right. Their marriage had been an intimate affair and not the extravagant one her parents had tried to push. It had been a spur of the moment event that had played out in Scott's mind a million times, or more, leading up to it. Simple and elegant, and held on the grounds of the school with their closest friends and family.

It had been a long time coming.

It had been the best day of his life.

It was followed closely by the birth of their son.

The worst day of his life, to this date, had been nearly two years ago. An early spring day, the flowers just starting to bloom outside the windows, and the students recently back from the summer break. It would forever be a day he would never forget. Charles Xavier had led an incredible life, and inspired a tremendous vision, and on that day, his journey ended.

At the time, Scott's only consolation had been that Charles had left the world on his own terms. He saw his vision come into fruition; saw his charges embrace and endorse that vision.

Scott - just like Jean, Ororo, Hank, and any of Charles' students - was determined to see such a vision maintained.

That vision, of a world united, had formed the basis of Scott's life, from the time he met Charles in his early teens, to the day that Scott had said goodbye, in front of everyone who's lives Charles had touched.

It seemed fitting that on this day, Charles' birthday, that he remembered what had led him to this point. In the office of the man who had taught him that having something to believe in was the greatest motivator one could have.

That leadership meant more than just giving orders to others.

That to teach was one of the greatest callings a person could have.

And that family mattered more than anything else in the world.

"Thank you, Charles," he murmurs, voice barely audible, even in the silence.

Outside his office doors he can hear the bell ring for lunch, closely followed by the low thunder of footsteps as the students race out of the ground level classrooms.


End file.
